1. Field of the Invention
Ice packs and hot water bottles are old in the art. Therapeutic use thereof is to apply heat or cold to the user for the reduction of pain and to expedite the healing of injuries and infections or the like.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a therapeutic muff containing a heating or cooling material, into which a body part such as the hands, wrist, arms, or legs can be inserted.
2. Description of the Related Art
The difficulty in treating the hands, wrists and arms lies in keeping the hot or cold reservoirs in contact with that portion of the body. U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,669 issued to Mark Schneider on Nov. 30, 1939 describes a heat transfer device in the form of a bandanna-like neck band having a main body of flexible fabric material and a pocket lengthwise for receiving an elongated heat transfer element in the form of a multi-cellular reusable coolant pouch therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,326 issued to O'Brien on Dec. 19, 1989 describes a sub-occipital pillow for applying heat and/or cold treatments to the neck and suboccipital areas having a crescent shape and filled with a gel pack which may either cooled in a refrigerated or heated in a microwave oven.